Meta says will report child safety cases directly to Indian cybercrime portal - The Hindu

**Meta to Forward Child‑Safety Cases Directly to India’s Cybercrime Portal**

New Delhi – Meta Platforms Inc. announced on Tuesday that it will begin reporting all child‑sexual‑abuse content cases it detects on its services directly to the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs’ Cyber Crime Prevention Cell portal, *The Hindu* reported. The move follows a series of high‑level talks between the tech giant and the Indian government, culminating in a written agreement that makes the reporting of such cases “non‑negotiable,” as described by the *Telegraph India*. Under the new protocol, Meta’s safety teams will forward detailed incident data—including URLs, user IDs and forensic evidence—to the portal, enabling law‑enforcement agencies to initiate investigations without delay.

The decision arrives amid a broader crackdown on online child‑exploitation in India. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a directive requiring all social‑media platforms to remove child sexual abuse material (CSAM) within 24 hours and to cooperate fully with investigations, a demand echoed in NDTV’s coverage of Meta’s compliance pledge. Officials say the direct‑reporting channel is intended to close gaps that previously allowed abusive content to linger online and to streamline the hand‑off of evidence to police, thereby enhancing the speed and efficacy of prosecutions.

However, critics warn that the new reporting framework does not address deeper systemic failures. A recent WIRED investigation revealed that Meta’s automated moderation missed hundreds of AI‑generated child‑abuse ads, some of which featured images of real children, while ThePrint highlighted that Meta’s damage‑control efforts have focused on policy tweaks rather than a comprehensive overhaul of its detection algorithms. Advocacy groups have called for independent audits and stronger accountability measures to ensure that the promised “non‑negotiable” safety standards translate into real protection for children online.